The H190 has features that include: network connectivity via wired Ethernet, AirPlay, and DLNA, as well as support for a Control4 home automation system. It also provides a USB Type-B port for a computer hookup to its 24-bit/192kHz-capable DAC, and either of its analog inputs can be configured as a fixed, high-level home-theater bypass.
The H190 can output 150Wpc into 8 ohms and includes SoundEngine2, an enhanced version of Hegel’s “feed-forward” amplifier topology that, according to chief designer Bent Holter, provides increased dynamic range with a lower noise floor. Another benefit of SoundEngine2 is a high damping factor — important for woofer control — which in the H190 gets a boost to over 4000.
With just a large OLED display bounded on either side by knobs for input selection and volume control, the H190’s front panel retains the simple, elegant design of Hegel’s other integrated amps. The only other thing on the front panel is a 6.3mm headphone output. The H190 weighs 41.9 pounds.
On the H190’s rear panel are audio inputs: analog unbalanced (two RCA) and balanced (two XLR), and four digital (three optical, one coaxial). Also here are USB and Ethernet ports, alongside a set of high-quality speaker outputs that accommodate spade lugs, banana jacks, pins, and bare wire. Last come a power-cord inlet, and fixed and variable analog outputs (RCA).
